Forgive and Forget
by ber1719
Summary: Some nights, as I held her as tightly as I could, I could imagine what life might have been like if we both hadn't been so stubborn. A Love Melts His Heart universe one-shot. Please read and review.


"**Forgive and Forget"**

**(A Band of Brothers One-Shot)**

I stared through heavy eyelids at the scene across the room from me. Adelina and little Thomas were sorting through boxes of Christmas ornaments. Together, they were hanging colored baubles all over the tree. Warmth, love, and happiness spread through me at the sight. Despite all of the things we had done to each other, we had finally made it to this point.

I was never a sentimental man. Ask anyone I had ever encountered in my life and they would tell you the same thing. But even I could admit that my fiancee, the woman currently glancing coyly over her shoulder at me while our little boy told her a story about God knew what, had changed me irrevocably. Whether through her patience or her love, I had changed. And in this moment, as I stared at her grinning and laughing along with our son, I couldn't help but feel the tears collect at the back of my throat.

In the past few years, Adelina and I had been through the worst of the worst. Mistake after mistake had separated us for a long time and it had only been just recently that we had found each other again. That day when Thomas had accidentally caused the two of us to find one another had been the turning point. It had been the beginning of a new period in our lives. A time when we didn't have to worry about the taint of war driving us closer and closer to death. A time when all we had was each other. No other significant others weighing us down. No other worries except to decide who would pick Thomas up after school and what kind of groceries to buy every week.

Some nights, as I held her as tightly as I could, I could imagine what life might have been like if we both hadn't been so stubborn. On those nights, Adie would shift in my arms and stare up at me with her perfect green eyes. She always seemed to know what I was thinking and yet I was always surprised when she reached up to cup my face.

"Stop thinking about it," she would say, her voice quiet in the darkness of our house. Only a door down, we could hear Thomas as he rolled in his sleep. Pain would course through my chest. The truth of it was that I had been trying for years to stop living in the past. I wanted, desperately, to enjoy the present. Enjoy life with her.

"I've tried, Adie. But, no matter how hard I try, it never goes away. Those...regrets never go away. What if I never stop thinking about it?"

"Love, we both made mistakes, but we're together now. It's in the past. I don't understand why you keep torturing yourself with it now," she whispered as she tucked her head beneath my chin.

I knew that she was right. I knew that at some point I had to let the past stay in the past. Perhaps now the wounds were still too fresh. Perhaps the reality hadn't sunken in yet that Adelina was mine. Forever and always.

"Ron, do you want to come and help us with the star. We're both too short to reach it," Adelina's voice scattered my thoughts to the wind. I shook my head as I tried to clear my mind. Glancing up at her, I could see the unease roiling like a storm through her eyes. It was amazing that she always seemed to know what I was thinking. I knew that soon, I would have to let go of my doubts and insecurities. Soon, I would have to prove to her that I could move on from my mistakes.

"Sure, I can help you guys. I mean, I wanted to help earlier but the pair of you insisted that you could handle it," I teased them both as I stood up from my spot on the couch and crossed the room toward them. Thomas giggled and playfully darted behind Adie, a smile plastered to his lips. I rolled my eyes and held my hands out for the star that Adelina was holding. Her fingers brushed against my own and I felt a wild, passionate flare of heat in my chest. It made me freeze for a moment, my hands still locked against her own.

Adelina and Thomas were the most important parts of my life. I would never want to give them up. I would never want to hurt them or do anything to push them away. Thomas was my son and I loved him despite the circumstances under which he had been born. And it didn't matter that Adelina wasn't his birth mother. She was his mother in all the ways that counted and I was still madly, passionately, deeply in love with her. I wanted to have more kids with her. I wanted to build a life with her, grow old with her, and remind her every day just how much I loved her. If that wasn't enough to want to forget the past and move on with the future, I didn't know what was.

It was at that moment when I decided that it didn't matter what had happened in the past. It didn't matter that I still didn't believe that I was good enough for her. She had obviously decided that I was worthy and that meant more to me than anything else in the world. It was at that moment that I leaned toward her and pressed my lips to her own. It was a chaste kiss, but love blossomed in my chest at the light blush that spread across her cheeks.

"We can do this, Adie," I said before I placed the star on top of the tree. She smiled at me, the smile she seemed only to reserve for me, and everything settled in the world. Everything settled within me.

**So this is the first Band of Brothers story I have done in a very long time. But, I hope that I did justice not only to Ron Speirs, but also to my OCs: Thomas and Adelina. For those of you that remember, I wrote a story called Love Melts His Heart. This is like a one-shot of that universe. Since it's Christmas, I decided to fix this little story up and post it after its been sitting on my computer for months. **

**I really hope you guys enjoy and please review if you have the time. Merry Christmas everybody!**


End file.
